SANTA MONICA—A 39-year-old man from Sonora, Mexico was named as a suspect by the Santa Monica Police Department on Thursday, February 21 for the stabbing of a black teenager in Santa Monica.

Suspect Francisco Leon-Urbalexo. Photo courtesy of SMPD.

DNA evidence taken from the scene of the crime linked illegal immigrant Francisco Leon-Urbalexo to the attack of a 19-year-old near a Hooters in downtown Santa Monica on August 13.

The incident occurred at 6:20 p.m. after the victim and his girlfriend left Hooters in the 300 block of Santa Monica Boulevard and were walking eastbound towards Fourth street. The suspect was walking in front of the victim when he allegedly attacked the victim unprovoked.

The victim tried to flee across the street but was stabbed multiple times and fell to the ground. The suspect then fled the scene and the victim was hospitalized with moderate injuries.

Two weeks after the attack, police released an image of the suspect that was captured by a video surveillance camera that shows him running southbound through the Santa Monica Place Mall.

Leon-Urbalexo traveled to Yuma, Arizona and was arrested days later in Gila Bend on August 15 for illegally entering the United States. He pleaded guilty in September and is currently serving a ten-month sentence in federal prison.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed three felony charges against Leon-Urbalexo including attempted murder, hate crime and assault with a deadly weapon.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Chad Goodwin at (310) 458-8942 or Sergeant Ira Rutan at (310) 458-8959 or the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8495.